GG Stokes 1845 PDF

[From the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society,
Vol. VIII. p. 287.]
ON THE THEORIES OF THE INTEBNAL FRICTION OF FLUIDS

IN MOTION, AND OF THE EQUILIBRIUM AND MOTION OF
ELASTIC SOLIDS.
[Bead April 14, 1845.]

THE equations of Fluid Motion commonly employed depend
upon the fundamental hypothesis that the mutual action of two
adjacent elements of the fluid is normal to the surface which
separates them. From this assumption the equality of pressure
in all directions is easily deduced, and then the equations of
motion are formed according to D'Alembert's principle. This
appears to me the most natural light in which to view the sub-
ject; for the two principles of the absence of tangential action,
and of the equality of pressure in all directions ought not to be
assumed as independent hypotheses, as is sometimes done, inas-
much as the latter is a necessary consequence of the former*
The equations of motion so formed are very complicated, but yet
they admit of solution in some instances, especially in the case
of small oscillations. The results of the theory agree on the
whole with observation, so far as the time of oscillation is con-
cerned. But there is a whole class of motions of which the
common theory takes no cognizance whatever, namely, those
which depend on the tangential action called into play by the
sliding of one portion of a fluid along another, or of a fluid along
the surface of a solid, or of a different fluid, that action in fact
which performs the same part with fluids that friction does with
solids.
* This may be easily shewn by the consideration of a tetrahedron of the fluid,
as in Art. 4.
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76 ON THE FRICTION OF FLUIDS IN MOTION,
Thus, when a ball pendulum oscillates in an indefinitely ex-

tended fluid, the common theory gives the arc of oscillation
constant. Observation however shews that it diminishes very
rapidly in the case of a liquid, and diminishes, but less rapidly,
in the case of an elastic fluid. It has indeed been attempted to
explain this diminution by supposing a friction to act on the ball,
and this hypothesis may be approximately true, but the imper-
fection of the theory is shewn from the circumstance that no
account is taken of the equal and opposite friction of the ball on
the fluid.
Again, suppose that water is flowing down a straight aqueduct
of uniform slope, what will be the discharge corresponding to
a given slope, and a given form of the bed ? Of what magnitude
must an aqueduct be, in order to supply a given place with
a given quantity of water ? Of what form must it be, in order
to ensure a given supply of water with the least expense of
materials in the construction ? These, and similar questions are
wholly out of the reach of the common theory of Fluid Motion,
since they entirely depend on the laws of the transmission of that
tangential action which in it is wholly neglected. In fact, accord-
ing to the common theory the water ought to flow on with
uniformly accelerated velocity; for even the supposition of a
certain friction against the bed would be of no avail, for such
friction could not be transmitted through the mass. The practical
importance of such questions as those above mentioned has made
them the object of numerous experiments, from which empirical
formulae have been constructed. But such formulas, although
fulfilling well enough the purposes for which they were con-
structed, can hardly be considered as affording us any material
insight into the laws of nature; nor will they enable us to pass
from the consideration of the phenomena from which they were
derived to that of others of a different class, although depending
on the same causes.
In reflecting on the principles according to which the motion
of a fluid ought to be calculated when account is taken of the
tangential force, and consequently the pressure not supposed the
same in all directions, I was led to construct the theory explained
in the first section of this paper, or at least the main part of it,
which consists of equations (13), and of the principles on which
AND THE EQUILIBRIUM AND MOTION OF ELASTIC SOLIDS. 77
they are. formed. I afterwards found that Poisson had written

a memoir on the same subject, and on referring to it I found that
he had arrived at the same equations. The method which he em-
ployed was however so different from mine that I feel justified in
laying the latter before this Society*. The leading principles of my
theory will be found in the hypotheses of Art. 1, and in Art. 3.
The second section forms a digression from the main object of
this paper, and at first sight may appear to have little connexion
with it. In this section I have, I think, succeeded in shewing
that Lagrange's proof of an important theorem in the ordinary
theory of Hydrodynamics is untenable. The theorem to which I
refer is the one of which the object is to shew that udoc+vdy+wdz,
(using the common notation,) is always an exact differential when
it is so at one instant. I have mentioned the principles of
M. Cauchy's proof, a proof, I think, liable to no sort of objection.
I have also given a new proof of the theorem, which would have
served to establish it had M. Cauchy not been so fortunate as to
obtain three first integrals of the general equations of motion.
As it is, this proof may possibly be not altogether useless.
Poisson, in the memoir to which I have referred, begins with
establishing, according to his theory, the equations of equilibrium
and motion of elastic solids, and makes the equations of motion
of fluids depend on this theory. On reading his memoir, I was
led to apply to the theory of elastic solids principles precisely
analogous to those which I have employed in the case of fluids.
The formation of the equations, according to these principles,
forms the subject of Sect. in.
The equations at which I have thus arrived contain two arbi-
trary constants, whereas Poisson 'a equations contain but one. In
Sect. IV. I have explained the principles of Poisson's theories of
elastic solids, and of the motion of fluids, and pointed out what
appear to me serious objections against the truth of one of the
hypotheses which he employs in the former. This theory seems
to be very generally received, and in consequence it is usual to
deduce the measure of the cubical compressibility of elastic solids
from that of their extensibility, when formed into rods or wires,
* The same equations have also been obtained by Navier in the case of an in-
compressible fluid (Mem. de VAcademie, t. vi. p. 389), but his principles differ from
mine still more than do Poisson's.
or from some quantity of the same nature. If the views which

I have explained in this section be correct, the cubical compres-
sibility deduced in this manner is too great, much too great in
the case of the softer substances, and even the softer metals.
The equations of Sect. in. have, I find, been already obtained by
M. Cauchy in his Exercises Mathematiques, except that he has not
considered the effect of the heat developed by sudden compression.
The method which I have employed is different from his, although
in some respects it much resembles it.
The equations of motion of elastic solids given in Sect. in.
are the same as those to which different authors have been led,
as being the equations of motion of the luminiferous ether in
vacuum. It may seem strange that the same equations should
have been arrived at for cases so different; and I believe this has
appeared to some a serious objection to the employment of those
equations in the case of light. I think the reflections which
I have made at the end of Sect. IV., where I have examined the
consequences of the law of continuity, a law which seems to per-
vade nature, may tend to remove the difficulty.
SECTION I.
Explanation of the Theory of Fluid Motion proposed. Formation
of the Differential Equations. Application of these Equations
to a few simple cases.
1. Before entering on the explanation of this theory, it will
be necessary to define, or fix the precise meaning of a few terms
which I shall have occasion to employ.
In the first place, the expression " the velocity of a fluid at
any particular point" will require some notice. If we suppose
a fluid to be made up of ultimate molecules, it is easy to see that
these molecules must, in general, move among one another in an
irregular manner, through spaces comparable with the distances
between them, when the fluid is in motion. But since there is
no doubt that the distance between two adjacent molecules is
quite insensible, we may neglect the irregular part of the velocity,
compared with the common velocity with which all the molecules
in the neighbourhood of the one considered are moving. Or, we
may consider the mean velocity of the molecules in the neigh-
bourhood of the one considered, apart from the velocity due to
the irregular motion. It is this regular velocity which I shall

understand by the velocity of a fluid at any point, and I shall
accordingly regard it as varying continuously with the co-ordinates
of the point.
Let P be any material point in the fluid, and consider the
instantaneous motion of a very small element E of the fluid
about P. This motion is compounded of a motion of. translation,
the same as that of P, and of the motion of the several points of
E relatively to P. If we conceive a velocity equal and opposite
to that of P impressed on the whole element, the remaining
velocities form what I shall call the relative velocities of the points
of the fluid about P ; and the motion expressed by these velocities
is what I shall call the relative motion in the neighbourhood of P.
It is an undoubted result of observation that the molecular
forces, whether in solids, liquids, or gases, are forces of enormous
intensity, but which are sensible at only insensible distances.
Let E' be a very small element of the fluid circumscribing E, and
of a thickness greater than the distance to which the molecular
forces are sensible. The forces acting on the element E are the
external forces, and the pressures arising from the molecular
action of E'. If the molecules of E were in positions in which
they could remain at rest if E were acted on by no external force
and the molecules of E' were held in their actual positions, they
would be in what I shall call a state of relative equilibrium. Of
course they may be far from being in a state of actual equilibrium.
Thus, an element of fluid at the top of a wave may be sensibly
in a state of relative equilibrium, although far removed from its
position of equilibrium. Now, in consequence of the intensity of
the molecular forces, the pressures arising from the molecular
action on E will be very great compared with the external
moving forces acting on E. Consequently the state of relative
equilibrium, or of relative motion, of the molecules of E will not
be sensibly affected by the external forces acting on E. But the
pressures in different directions about the point P depend on that
state of relative equilibrium or motion, and consequently will not
be sensibly affected by the external moving forces acting on E.
For the same reason they will not be sensibly affected by any
motion of rotation common to all the points of E; and it is
a direct consequence of the second law of motion, that they will
not be affected by any motion of translation common to the whole

element. If the molecules of E were in a state of relative equi^
librium, the pressure would be equal in all directions about P,
as in the case of fluids at rest. Hence I shall assume the follow-
ing principle:—
That the difference between the pressure on a plane in a given
direction passing through any point P of a fluid in motion and the
pressure which would exist in all directions about P if the fluid in
its neighbourhood were in a state of relative equilibrium depends
only on the relative motion of the fluid immediately about P ; and
that the relative motion due to any motion of rotation may be elimi-
nated without affecting the differences of the pressures above men-
tioned.
Let us see how far this principle will lead us when it is
carried out.
2. It will be necessary now to examine the nature of the

most general instantaneous motion of an element of a fluid.
The proposition in this article is however purely geometrical, and
may be thus enunciated:—" Supposing space, or any portion of
space, to be filled with an infinite number of points which move
in any continuous manner, retaining their identity, to examine
the nature of the instantaneous motion of any elementary portion
of these points."
Let u, v, w be the resolved parts, parallel to the rectangular
axes, Ox, Oy, Oz, of the velocity of the point P, whose co-ordinates
at the instant considered are x, y, z. Then the relative velocities
at the point P\ whose co-ordinates are x + x, y + y, z + z, will be
du , du , du , ,, i ,
- = - # + - j - y + - ? - 3 parallel
r to x.
dx dy * dz
dv , dv , dv ,
-j- x + - j - ay + -j- z y,
dx dy dz ^
dw , dw , dw ,
ax dy a dz
neglecting squares and products of x', y, z. Let these velocities
be compounded of those due to the angular velocities &/, w", «'"
about the axes of x, y, z, and of the velocities U, V, W parallel
to x, y, z. The linear velocities due to the angular velocities

being co'z' — co'"y', to"' x — co'z, toy — co"x' parallel to the axes of
x, y, z, we shall therefore have
du , (du ,,,\ ,,,\ , (du
(du ,,\ ,
dx \dy I * \dz }
T. /dv ,,,\ . dv , (dv ,\ .
F= (— - at'" ) x + -r- y + l-r + (o ) z',
\dx J dy" \dz I
jxr (dw ,,\ , fdw ,\ , dw ,
\dx ) \dy
\dy } * dz
Since co, <o", co'" are arbitrary, let them be so assumed that
dU = dV dV_dW dW^dU
dy' ~ dx ' dz' ~ dy ' dx' dz' '
whieh gives
fdw dv\ „ , (du dw\ ,„ 5 (dv du\
, du , , (du dv\ , , (du dw\ "|

= dxX+^{dy + dx)y+*{dz+dx-)r
r^fdv du\,+ dv ,dv dw\ \
2
\dx dy) dy " * \dz dy) \
(dw _ du\ , , , fdw , dv\ , , dw ,
The quantities co', co", to" are what I shall call the angular
velocities of the fluid at the point considered. This is evidently
an allowable definition, since, in the particular case in which the
element considered moves as a solid might do, these quantities
coincide with the angular velocities considered in rigid dynamics.
A further reason for this definition will appear in Sect. III.
Let us now investigate whether it is possible to determine x,
y, z' so that, considering only the relative velocities U, V, W, the
line joining the points P, P' shall have no angular motion. The
conditions to be satisfied, in order that this may be the case, are
evidently that the increments of the relative co-ordinates x, y, z
of the second point shall be ultimately proportional to those co-
ordinates. If e be the rate of extension of the line joining the two
points considered, we shall therefore have
Fx + hy + gz' = ex, j
hx' + Gy' + fz' = ey'A (3);
gx' + fy' +Hz'=ez',\
%. 6
where
du n = dv „ dw _, <&> (7w
J
dx' dy' dz dz dy
dw du du dv
dx V~dz- , Ah
dy dx
If we eliminate from equations (3) the two ratios which exist
between the three quantities x, y, z, we get the well known cubic
equation
(e-F) (e- G) (e- H)-f\e-F) -g\e- G)-K (e-H)-2fgh=0... (4),
which occurs in the investigation of the principal axes of a rigid
body, and in various others. As in these investigations, it may be
shewn that there are in general three directions, at right angles
to each other, in which the point P' may be situated so as to
satisfy the required conditions. If two of the roots of (4) are
equal, there is one such direction corresponding to the third root,
and an infinite number of others situated in a plane perpendicular
to the former; and if the three roots of (4) are equal, a line
drawn in any direction will satisfy the required conditions.
The three directions which have just been determined I shall
call axes of extension. They will in general vary from one point
to another, and from one instant of time to another. If we denote
the three roots of (4) by e, e", e'", and if we take new rectangular
axes Ox,, Oy,, 0z/t parallel to the axes of extension, and denote
by u/t Ut, &c. the quantities referred to these axes corresponding
to u, U, &c, equations (3) must be satisfied by y,' = 0, z't — 0, e = e,
by xt'— 0, z't= 0, e= e", and by x[= 0, y'= 0, e = e'", which requires
that/,= 0, g= 0, h— 0, and we have
'
w du „ n dv, „ u dw
dx,' ' dy; ' dz,
The values of U,, F , Wt, which correspond to the residual
motion after the elimination of the motion of rotation correspond-
ing to w', (o" and a>'", are
U=»xlt V, = e y,, W, = e z,.
The angular velocity of which a>', to", w" are the components
is independent of the arbitrary directions of the co-ordinate axes:
the same is true of the directions of the axes of extension, and of
the values of the roots of equation (4). This might be proved in
various ways; perhaps the following is the simplest. The condi-

tions by which a, to", a>'" are determined are those which express
that the relative velocities TJ, V, W, which remain after eliminating
a certain angular velocity, are such that Udx + Vdy' + Wde is
ultimately an exact differential, that is to say when squares and
products of x, y and z are neglected. It appears moreover from
the solution that there is only one way in which these conditions
can be satisfied for a given system of co-ordinate axes. Let us
take new rectangular axes, Ox, Oy, Oz, and let U, V, W be the
resolved parts along these axes of the velocities U, V, W, and
x, y', z, the relative co-ordinates of P'; then
U = U cos xx + V cos xy + W cos xz,
dx = cosxxdx' + cos xjdj' + cos«zc?z', &c.;
whence, taking account of the well known relations between the
cosines involved in these equations, we easily find
Udx + Vdy' + Wdz'=Udx + Ydy'+Wdz.
It appears therefore that the relative velocities U, V, W, which
remain after eliminating a certain angular velocity, are such that
TJdx'+ Ydy'+ Wdz is ultimately an exact differential. Hence
the values of U, V, W are the same as would have been obtained
from equations (2) applied directly to the new axes, whence the
truth of the proposition enunciated at the head of this paragraph
is manifest.
The motion corresponding to the velocities Un F ; , Wt may be
further decomposed into a motion of dilatation, positive or negative,
which is alike in all directions, and two motions which I shall call
motions of shifting, each of the latter being in two dimensions, and
not affecting the density. For let 8 be the rate of linear extension
corresponding to a uniform dilatation ; let ax't — ay] be the velo-
cities parallel to xt, yt, corresponding to a motion of shifting parallel
to the plane xyit and let ax], — a'z] be the velocities parallel to
xJt zlt corresponding to a similar motion of shifting parallel to the
plane xz . The velocities parallel to xt, yt, zl respectively corre-
sponding to the quantities S, a and a will be (S + a + a') x], (B — a)y],
(S— a")z], and equating these to Ut, F , W, we shall get
$ = W + e" + e"), o- = 4(«' + e" - 2e"), a = i(e' + e" - 2«'").
Hence the most general instantaneous motion of an elementary
portion of a fluid is compounded of a motion of translation, a
6—2
motion of rotation, a motion of uniform dilatation, and two motions

of shifting of the kind just mentioned.
3. Having determined the nature of the most general instan-
taneous motion of an element of a fluid, we are now prepared to
consider the normal pressures and tangential forces called into
play by the relative displacements of the particles. Let p be the
pressure which would exist about the point P if the neighbouring
molecules were in a state of relative equilibrium: let p+p, be
the normal pressure, and t, the tangential action, both referred to
a unit of surface, on a plane passing through P and having a given
direction. By the hypotheses of Art. 1. the quantities pt, tt will
be independent of the angular velocities a , to", a>", depending
only on the residual relative velocities U, V, W, or, which comes
to the same, on e, e" and e", or on a, a and 8. Since this re-
sidual motion is symmetrical with respect to the axes of extension,
it follows that if the plane considered is perpendicular to any one
of these axes the tangential action on it is zero, since there is no
reason why it should act in one direction rather than in the
opposite; for by the hypotheses of Art. 1 the change of density
and temperature about the point P is to be neglected, the consti-
tution of the fluid being ultimately uniform about that point.
Denoting then by p+p', p+p", p+p'" the pressures on planes
perpendicular to the axes of xt, i/t, z,, we must have
p' = <f>(e', e", e"), p"-<j>(e", e'", e), p " = 6(e", e', e"),
4>{e', e", e") denoting a function of e, e" and e" which is sym-
metrical with respect to the two latter quantities. The question
is now to determine, on whatever may seem the most probable
hypothesis, the form of the function <p.
Let us first take the simpler case in which there is no dilata-
tion, and only one motion of shifting, or in which e" = — e, e"' = 0,
and let us consider what would take place if the fluid consisted of
smooth molecules acting on each other by actual contact. On
this supposition, it is clear, considering the magnitude of the pres-
sures acting on the molecules compared with their masses, that
they would be sensibly in a position of relative equilibrium, except
when the equilibrium of any one of them became impossible from
the displacement of the adjoining ones, in which case the molecule
in question would start into a new position of equilibrium. This
start would cause a corresponding displacement in the moleculeB
immediately about the one which started, and this disturbance

would be propagated immediately in all directions, the nature of
the displacement however being different in different directions,
and would soon become insensible. During the continuance of
this disturbance, the pressure on a small plane drawn through the
element considered would not be the same in all directions, nor
normal to the plane: or, which comes to the same, we may sup-
pose a uniform normal pressure p to act, together with a normal
pressure ptl, and a tangential force tlt, plt and ttl being forces of
great intensity and short duration, that is being of the nature of
impulsive forces. As the number of molecules comprised in the
element considered has been supposed extremely great, we may
take a time T SO short that all summations with respect to such
intervals of time may be replaced without sensible error by inte-
grations, and yet so long that a very great number of starts shall
take place in it. Consequently we have only to consider the aver-
age effect of such starts, and moreover we may without sensible
error replace the impulsive forces such asp,, and ttl, which succeed
one another with great rapidity, by continuous forces. For planes
perpendicular to the axes of extension these continuous forces will
be the normal pressuresp',p",p".
Let us now consider a motion of shifting differing from the
former only in having e increased in the ratio of m to 1. Then, if
we suppose each start completed before the starts which would be
sensibly affected by it are begun, it is clear that the same series of
starts will take place in the second case as in the first, but at
intervals of time which are less in the ratio of 1 to m. Conse-
quently the continuous pressures by which the impulsive actions
due to these starts may be replaced must be increased in the ratio
of m to 1. Hence the pressures p,p",p" must be proportional
to e, or we must have
p'=Ce', p"=C'e', p'"=G"e'.
It is natural to suppose that these formulae hold good for nega-
tive as well as positive values of e'. Assuming this to be true, let
the sign of e be changed. This comes to interchanging x and y,
and consequentlyp" must remain the same, and p and p" must
be interchanged. We must therefore have C" = 0,G' = -C. Put-
ting then C = - 2 / i \ r e have,
p"' = 0.
It has hitherto been supposed that the molecules of a fluid are

in actual contact. We have every reason to suppose that this is
not the case. But precisely the same reasoning will apply if they
are separated by intervals as great as we please compared with
their magnitudes, provided only we suppose the force of restitution
called into play by a small displacement of any one molecule to be
very great.
Let us now take the case of two motions of shifting which co-
exist, and let us suppose e = cr + a, e" = — cr, e" = — a'. Let the
small time T be divided into 2w equal portions, and let us suppose
that in the first interval a shifting motion corresponding to e'= 2<T,
e"= — 2a- takes place parallel to the plane xyt, and that in the
second interval a shifting motion corresponding to e=2a', e'"= — 2a
takes place parallel to the plane xzt, and so on alternately. On
this supposition it is clear that if we suppose the time T/2W to be
extremely small, the continuous forces by which the effect of the
starts may be replaced will be p'= — 2fi (cr + a'), p"= 2{MT, p"'= 2fia.
By supposing n indefinitely increased, we might make the motion
considered approach as near as we please to that in which the two
motions of shifting coexist; but we are not at liberty to do so, for
in order to apply the above reasoning we must suppose the time
T/2W to be so large that the average effect of the starts which
occur in it may be taken. Consequently it must be taken as an
additional assumption, and not a matter of absolute demonstration,
that the effects of the two motions of shifting are superimposed.
Hence if 8 = 0, i.e. if e + e" + e" = 0, we shall have in general
/ = - 2fie', p" = - 2/te", p" = - 2/ie'" (5).
It was by this hypothesis of starts that I first arrived at these
equations, and the differential equations of motion which result
from them. On reading Poisson's memoir however, to which I
shall have occasion to refer in Section IV., I was led to reflect that
however intense we may suppose the molecular forces to be, and
however near we may suppose the molecules to be to their posi-
tions of relative equilibrium, we are not therefore at liberty to
suppose them in those positions, and consequently not at liberty
to suppose the pressure equal in all directions in the intervals of
time between the starts. In fact, by supposing the molecular
forces indefinitely increased, retaining the same ratios to each
other, we may suppose the displacements of the molecules from
their positions of relative equilibrium indefinitely diminished, but

on the other hand the force of restitution called into action by a
given displacement is indefinitely increased in the same proportion.
But be these displacements what they may, we know that the
forces of restitution make equilibrium with forces equal and oppo-
site to the effective forces ; and in calculating the effective forces
we may neglect the above displacements, or suppose the molecules
to move in the paths in which they would move if the shifting
motion took place with indefinite slowness. Let us first consider
a single motion of shifting, or one for which e" = — e', e" = 0, and
let p, and tt denote the same quantities as before. If we now sup-
pose e' increased in the ratio of m to 1, all the effective forces will
be increased in that ratio, and consequently pt and tt will be in-
creased in the same ratio. We may deduce the values of p p", and
p"' just as before, and then pass by the same reasoning to the case
of two motions of shifting which coexist, only that in this case the
reasoning will be demonstrative, since we may suppose the time
r/2n indefinitely diminished. If we suppose the state of things
considered in this paragraph to exist along with the motions of
starting already considered, it is easy to see that the expressions
for p', p" and p'" will still retain the same form.
There remains yet to be considered the effect of the dilatation.
Let us first suppose the dilatation to exist without any shifting :
then it is easily seen that the relative motion of the fluid at the
point considered is the same in all directions. Consequently the
only effect which such a dilatation could have would be to intro-
duce a normal pressure plt alike in all directions, in addition to
that due to the action of the molecules supposed to be in a state
of relative equilibrium. Now the pressure p1 could only arise
from the aggregate of the molecular actions called into play by
the displacements of the molecules from their positions of relative
equilibrium; but since these displacements take place, on an
average, indifferently in all directions, it follows that the actions
of which p, is composed neutralize each other, so that pt = Q. The
same conclusion might be drawn from the hypothesis of starts,
supposing, as it is natural to do, that each start calls into action
as much increase of pressure in some directions as diminution of
pressure in others.
If the motion of uniform dilatation coexists with two motions
of shifting, I shall suppose, for the same reason as before, that the
effects of these different motions are superimposed. Hence sub-
tracting S from each of the three quantities e, e" and e'", and
putting the remainders in the place of e, e" and e" in equations
(5), we have
/ = | M (e" + e"'-2 e '), p" = §/*(«"' +e'-2e"),
p"=^(e'+e"-2e'") (6).
If we had started with assuming $ (e, e", e") to be a linear func-
tion of e', e' and e", avoiding all speculation as to the molecular
constitution of afluid,we should have had at once p'=Ce'+C(e"+e"),
since p is symmetrical with respect to e" and e"; or, changing the
constants, p' = f//,(e" + e" — 2e) + K(e' + e" + e'"). The expressions
for p" and p'" would be obtained by interchanging the requisite
quantities. Of course we may at once put K = 0 if we assume
that in the case of a uniform motion of dilatation the pressure at
any instant depends only on the actual density and temperature at
that instant, and not on the rate at which the former changes
with the time. In most cases to which it would be interesting to
apply the theory of the friction of fluids the density of the fluid is
either constant, or may without sensible error be regarded as con-
stant, or else changes slowly with the time. In the first two cases
the results would be the same, and in the third case nearly the
same, whether K were equal to zero or not. Consequently, if
theory and experiment should in such cases agree, the experiments
must not be regarded as confirming that part of the theory which
relates to supposing tc to be equal to zero.
4. It will be easy now to determine the oblique pressure, or
resultant of the normal pressure and tangential action, on any
plane. Let us first consider a plane drawn through the point P
parallel to the plane yz. Let Ox, make with the axes of w, y, z
angles whose cosines are I', rri, n ; let I", m", n" be the same for
Oyt, and I'", rri", ri" the same for 0zt. Let Pt be the pressure,
and (xty), (xtz) the resolved parts, parallel to y, z respectively, of
the tangential force on the plane considered, all referred to a unit
of surface, (xty) being reckoned positive when the part of the
fluid towards — x urges that towards + x in the positive direction
of y, and similarly for (xtz). Consider the portion of the fluid
comprised within a tetrahedron having its vertex in the point P,
its base parallel to the plane yz, and its three sides parallel to the
planes xy^ yzt, z/x/ respectively. Let A be the area of the base,
and therefore X A, I"A, I"A the areas of the faces perpendicular
to the axes of xp y,, «,. By D'Alembert's principle, the pressures
and tangential actions on the faces of this tetrahedron, the moving
forces arising from the external attractions, not including the
molecular forces, and forces equal and opposite to the effective
moving forces will be in equilibrium, and therefore the sums of
the resolved parts of these forces in the directions of x, y and z
will each be zero. Suppose now the dimensions of the tetrahedron
indefinitely diminished, then the resolved parts of the external,
and of the effective moving forces will vary ultimately as the
cubes, and those of the pressures and tangential forces on the
sides as the squares of homologous lines. Dividing therefore the
three equations arising from equating to zero the resolved parts
of the above forces by A, and taking the limit, we have
P 1 =2r(p+ i >'), (xty)=tl'm'{p+p'), (xtz)=>-2,tn'(p+pr),
the sign 2 denoting the sum obtained by taking the quantities
corresponding to the three axes of extension in succession. Putting
forp,p" undp'" their values given by (6), putting e'+e" + e'"—SS,
and observing that XI'1 = 1, 1,1'm = 0, IXn = 0, the above equa-
tions become
Pt =p - 2fjXPe + 2/iS, (xty) = - 2liZXm'e, (ccts) = - 2fiVn'e'.
The method of determining the pressure on any plane from
the pressures on three planes at right angles to each other, which
has just been given, has already been employed by MM. Cauchy
and Poisson.
The most direct way of obtaining the values of 2f V &c. would
be to express I', m and n in terms of e by any two of equations
(3), in which x, y, z are proportional to I', tri, n, together with
the equation P+ m'a + n'2 = 1, and then to express the resulting
symmetrical function of the roots of the cubic equation (4) in
terms of the coefficients. But this method would be excessively
laborious, and need not be resorted to. For after eliminating the
angular motion of the element of fluid considered the remaining
velocities are ex', e'y,', e'"z', parallel to the axes of xt, yt, zr
The sum of the resolved parts of these parallel to the axis of
x is I'e'x^ + l"e"y' + r"e'"z'. Putting for x], y', z't their values
Xx' + m'y' + riz &c, the above sum becomes
x'Xl V + y'Ul'm'e + z'Xl'ne';
90 ON THE FBICTION OF FLUIDS IN MOTION,
but this sum is the same thing as the velocity U in equation (2),
and therefore we have
_ „ , du v 7 , , , (du dv\ V7, , , ,(dn dw\
It may also be very easily proved directly that the value of 38,
the rate of cubical dilatation, satisfies the equation
du dv dw
U-- •(7).
da; dy dz
Let P2, (ytz), (ytx) be the quantities referring to the axis of y,
and P 3 , (ztx), (zty) those referring to the axis of z, which corre-
spond to P1 &c. referring to the axis of x. Then we see that
(ytz) = (zty), (ztx) = (xtz), (xty) = (ytx). Denoting these three
quantities by Tlt T2, T3, and making the requisite substitutions
and interchanges, we have
(du -\ "I
P.1 = » — zu, {-
* \dsc
dv
(8).
- - a (dV 4-
du dv
It may also be useful to know the components, parallel to

x, y, z, of the oblique pressure on a plane passing through the
point P, and having a given direction. Let I, m, n be the cosines
of the angles which a normal to the given plane makes with the
axes of x, y, z; let P, Q, E be the components, referred to a unit
of surface, of the oblique pressure on this plane, P, Q, B being
reckoned positive when the part of the fluid in which is situated
the normal to which I, m and n refer is urged by the other part
in the positive directions of x, y, z, when I, m and n are positive.
Then considering as before a tetrahedron of which the base is
parallel to the given plane, the vertex in the point P, and the
sides parallel to the co-ordinate planes, we shall have
nTv 1 (9).
nPs,)
i
In the simple case of a sliding motion for which u — 0, v =f(x),
w = 0, the only forces, besides the pressure p, which act on planes
parallel to the co-ordinate planes are the two tangential forces T3,
the value of which in this case is — /J, dv/dx. In this case it is
easy to shew that the axes of extension are, one of them parallel
to Oz, and the two others in a plane parallel to xy, and inclined
at angles of 45° to Ox. We see also that it is necessary to suppose
ix to be positive, since otherwise the tendency of the forces would
be to increase the relative motion of the parts of the fluid, and
the equilibrium of the fluid would be unstable.
5. Having found the pressures about the point P on planes
parallel to the co-ordinate planes, it will be easy to form the
equations of motion. Let X, Y, Z be the resolved parts, parallel
to the axes, of the external force, not including the molecular
force ; let p be the density, t the time. Consider an elementary
parallelepiped of the fluid, formed by planes parallel to the co-
ordinate planes, and drawn through the point (x, y, z) and the
point (x+ Ax, y + Ay, z + Az). The mass of this element will be
ultimately pAxAyAz, and the moving force parallel to x arising
from the external forces will be ultimately pXAxAyAz; the effec-
tive moving force parallel to x will be ultimately p Du/Dt. AxAyAz,
where D is used, as it will be in the rest of this paper, to denote
differentiation in which the independent variables are t and three
parameters of the particle considered, (such for instance as its
initial cordinates,) and not t, x, y, z. It is easy also to shew that
the moving force acting on the element considered arising from
the oblique pressures on the faces is ultimately
(dP dTs dT3\ . . .
• y~ + dy
\dx ~^ + dz- j - J Aa; Ay
a Az,
acting in the negative direction. Hence we have by D'Alembert's

principle
(Du
(
in which equations we must put for Bu/Bt its value

du, du du du
-T: + w j - + v -y- + w -r- >
dt dx dy dz
and similarly for Bv/dt and Bw/dt. In considering the general
equations of motion it will be needless to write down more than
one, since the other two may be at once derived from it by inter-
changing the requisite quantities. The equations (10), the ordi-
nary equation of continuity, as it is called,
di + ~dx+~di,+~dz~ = 0 (11
)'
which expresses the condition that there is no generation or
destruction of mass in the interior of a fluid, the equation con-
necting p and p, or in the case of an incompressible fluid the
equivalent equation Bp/Bt = 0, and the equation for the propa-
gation of heat, if we choose to take account of that propagation,
are the only equations to be satisfied at every point of the interior
of the fluid mass.
As it is quite useless to consider cases of the utmost degree
of generality, I shall suppose the fluid to be homogeneous, and of
a uniform temperature throughout, except in so far as the
temperature may be raised by sudden compression in the case of
small vibrations. Hence in equations (10) /J, may be supposed to
be constant as far as regards the temperature ; for, in the case
of small vibrations, the terms introduced by supposing it to vary
with the temperature would involve the square of the velocity,
which is supposed to be neglected. If we suppose /4 to be in-
dependent of the pressure also, and substitute in (10) the values
of P t &c. given by (8), the former equations become
(Du v \ dp fd2u d*u dsu
Let us now consider in what cases it is allowable to suppose

p to be independent of the pressure. It has been concluded by
Dubuat, from his experiments on the motion of water in pipes
and canals, that the total retardation of the velocity due to
friction is not increased by increasing the pressure. The total
retardation depends, partly on the friction of the water against

the sides of the pipe or canal, and partly on the mutual friction,
or tangential action, of the different portions of the water. Now
if these two parts of the whole retardation were separately variable
with p, it is very unlikely that they should when combined give
a result independent of p. The amount of the internal friction
of the water depends on the value of p. I shall therefore suppose
that for water, and by analogy for other incompressible fluids,
p. is independent of the pressure. On this supposition, we have
from equations (11) and (12)
dp fd2u d2u d'
du dv dw _ .
dx dy dz
These equations are applicable to the determination of the motion
of water in pipes and canals, to the calculation of the effect of
friction on the motions of tides and waves, and such questions.
If the motion is very small, so that we may neglect the square
of the velocity, we may put DujDt — dujdt, &c. in equations (13).
The equations thus simplified are applicable to the determination
of the motion of a pendulum oscillating in water, or of that of
a vessel filled with water and made to oscillate. They are also
applicable to the determination of the motion of a pendulum
oscillating in air, for in this case we may, with hardly any error,
neglect the compressibility of the air.
The case of the small vibrations by which sound is propagated
in a fluid, whether a liquid or a gas, is another in which dfi/dp
may be neglected. For in the case of a liquid reasons have been
shewn for supposing /t to be independent of p, and in the case
of a gas we may neglect dfi/dp, if we neglect the small change
in the value of p., arising from the small variation of pressure due
to the forces X, Y, Z.
6. Besides the equations which must hold good at any point
in the interior of the mass, it will be necessary to form also the
equations which must be satisfied at its boundaries. Let M be
a point in the boundary of the fluid. Let a normal to the surface
at M, drawn on the outside of the fluid, make with the axes
angles whose cosines are I, m, n. Let P', Q', R' be the components
of the pressure of the fluid about M on the solid or fluid with

which it is in contact, these quantities being reckoned positive
when the fluid considered presses the solid or fluid outside it in
the positive directions of x, y, z, supposing I, m and n positive.
Let 8 be a very small element of the surface about M, which
will be ultimately plane, 8' a plane parallel and equal to 8, and
directly opposite to it, taken within the fluid. Let the distance
between 8 and 8' be supposed to vanish in the limit compared
with the breadth of 8, a supposition which may be made if we
neglect the effect of the curvature of the surface at M; and let
us consider the forces acting on the element of fluid comprised
between S and 8', and the motion of this element. If we suppose
equations (8) to hold good to within an insensible distance from
the surface of the fluid, we shall evidently have forces ultimately
equal to PS, QS, BS, (P, Q and R being given by equations (9),)
acting on the inner side of the element in the positive directions
of the axes, and forces ultimately equal to P'S, Q'S, R' 8 acting
on the outer side in the negative directions. The moving forces
arising from the external forces acting on the element, and the
effective moving forces will vanish in the limit compared with the
forces PS, &c. : the same will be true of the pressures acting
about the edge of the element, if we neglect capillary attraction,
and all forces of the same nature. Hence, taking the limit, we
shall have
P' = P, Q' = Q, R=R.
The method of proceeding will be different according as the
bounding surface considered is a free surface, the surface of a
solid, or the surface of separation of two fluids, and it will be
necessary to consider these cases separately. Of course the surface
of a liquid exposed to the air is really the surface of separation
of two fluids, but it may in many cases be regarded as a free
surface if we neglect the inertia of the air : it may always be
so regarded if we neglect the friction of the air as well as its
inertia.
Let us first take the case of a free surface exposed to a pres-
sure II, which is supposed to be the same at all points, but may
vary with the time; and let L = 0 be the equation to the surface-
In this case we shall have P' = IU, Q' = mil, R' = «II; and
putting for P, Q, R their values given by (9), and for P1 &c. their
values given by (8), and observing that in this case 8 = 0, we

shall have
(du dv\ fdu , dw\) . /n ..
lj-+ m((T +-7- ) + n (-T-+ — U- =A 0,&c... (14 ,
dx \dy dx) \dz dx))
in which equations I, m, n will have to be replaced by dL/dx,

dL/dy, dLjdz, to which they are proportional.
If we choose to take account of capillary attraction, we have

only to diminish the pressure II by the quantity II (- + - J, where
H is a positive constant depending on the nature of the fluid, and
rx, r 2 , are the principal radii of curvature at the point considered,
reckoned positive when the fluid is concave outwards. Equations
(14) with the ordinary equation
dL dL dL dL ,. ., KX
-7- + W-T-+fl-v-+W-T-=0 (15),
v
dt dx dy dz '
are the conditions to be satisfied for points at the free surface.

Equations (14) are for such points what the three equations of
motion are for internal points, and (15) is for the former what (11)
is for the latter, expressing in fact that there is no generation or
destruction of fluid at the free surface.
The equations (14) admit of being differently expressed, in a

way which may sometimes be useful. If we suppose the origin to
be in the point considered, and the axis of z to be the external
normal to the surface, we have I = m = 0, n=l, and the equations
become
dw du A dw dv „ dw ..,-.
- j - + j - = 0, j ~ + — = 0, U-p+
r 2/u.-r- =n0 (16).
v
dz dz dy dz dz '
The relative velocity parallel to z of a point (x, y', 0) in the

free surface, indefinitely near the origin, is dw/dx.x + dw/dy.y:
hence we see that dw/dx, dw/dy are the angular velocities, reckoned
from x to z and from y to z respectively, of an element of the free
surface. Subtracting the linear velocities due to these angular
velocities from the relative velocities of the point (x, y', z), and
calling the remaining relative velocities U, V, W, we shall have
du , du , (du dw\\
U+
"-^"•"SP^W*++ dx)
rr dv , dv , (dv dw\ ,
dx ay \dz ay/
dz
Hence we see that the first two of equations (16) express the con-
ditions that dU/dz = 0 and dV/dz' = 0, which are evidently the
conditions to be satisfied in order that there may be no sliding
motion in a direction parallel to the free surface. It would be
easy to prove that these are the conditions to be satisfied in order
that the axis of z may be an axis of extension.
The next case to consider is that of a fluid in contact with a
solid. The condition which first occurred to me to assume for
this case was, that the film of fluid immediately in contact with
the solid did not move relatively to the surface of the solid. I
was led to try this condition from the following considerations.
According to the hypotheses adopted, if there was a very large
relative motion of the fluid particles immediately about any imagi-
nary surface dividing the fluid, the tangential forces called into
action would be very large, so that the amount of relative motion
would be rapidly diminished. Passing to the limit, we might sup-
pose that if at any instant the velocities altered discontinuously
in passing across any imaginary surface, the tangential force called
into action would immediately destroy the finite relative motion
of particles indefinitely close to each other, so as to render the
motion continuous; and from analogy the same might be supposed
to be true for the surface of junction of a fluid and solid. But
having calculated, according to the conditions which I have men-
tioned, the discharge of long straight circular pipes and rectangular
canals, and compared the resulting formulae with some of the
experiments of Bossut and Dubuat, I found that the formulae did
not at all agree with experiment. I then tried Poisson's conditions
in the case of a circular pipe, but with no better success. In fact,
it appears from experiment that the tangential force varies nearly
as the square of the velocity with which the fluid flows past the
surface of a solid, at least when the velocity is not very small. It
appears however from experiments on pendulums that the total
friction varies as the first power of the velocity, and consequently

we may suppose that Poisson's conditions, which include as a
particular case those which I first tried, hold good for very small
velocities. I proceed therefore to deduce these conditions in a
manner conformable with the views explained in this paper.
First, suppose the solid at rest, and let L = 0 be the equation
to its surface. Let M' be a point within the fluid, at an insensible
distance h from M. Let w be the pressure which would exist
about M if there were no motion of the particles in its neighbour-
hood, and let pt be the additional normal pressure, and tt the tan-
gential force, due to the relative velocities of the particles, both
with respect to one another and with respect to the surface of the
solid. If the motion is so slow that the starts take place independ-
ently of each other, on the hypothesis of starts, or that the mole-
cules are very nearly in their positions of relative equilibrium,
and if we suppose as before that the effects of different relative
velocities are superimposed, it is easy to shew that p( and t, are
linear functions of u, v, w and their differential coefficients with
respect to x, y and z; u, v, &c. denoting here the velocities of the
fluid about the point M', in the expressions for which however the
co-ordinates of M may be used for those of M', since h is neglected.
Now the relative velocities about the points M and M' depending
on dujdx, &c. are comparable with dujdx. h, while those depending
on u, v and w are comparable with these quantities, and therefore
in considering the action of the fluid on the solid it is only neces-
sary to consider the quantities u, v and w. Now since, neglecting
h, the velocity at M' is tangential to the surface at M, u, v, and w
are the components of a certain velocity V tangential to the sur-
face. The pressure pt must be zero; for changing the signs u, v,
and w the circumstances concerned in its production remain the
same, whereas its analytical expression changes sign. The tangen-
tial force at M will be in the direction of V, and proportional to it,
and consequently its components along the axes of x, y, z will be
proportional to u, v, w. Reckoning the tangential force positive
when, I,TO,and n being positive, the solid is urged in the positive
directions of x, y, z, the resolved parts of the tangential force will
therefore be vu, w, vw, where v must evidently be positive, since
the effect of the forces must be to check the relative motion of the
fluid and solid. The normal pressure of the fluid on the solid
being equal to zr, its components will be evidently Its, mar, net.
s. 7
Suppose now the solid to be in motion, and let u, v, w be the

resolved parts of the velocity of the point M of the solid, and as,
w", to'" the angular velocities of the solid. By hypothesis, the
forces by which the pressure at any point differs from the normal
pressure due to the action of the molecules supposed to be in a
state of relative equilibrium about that point are independent of
any velocity of translation or rotation. Supposing then linear and
angular velocities equal and opposite to those of the solid impressed
both on the solid and on the fluid, the former will be for an
instant at rest, and we have only to treat the resulting velocities
of the fluid as in the first case. Hence P'—l^ + v(u — u'), &c;
and in the equations (8) we may employ the actual velocities u,
v, W, since the pressures P, Q, R are independent of any motion
of translation and rotation common to the whole fluid. Hence
the equations P' = P, &c. gives us
l(sr—p) + v(u — u)
(du dv\ (du
which three equations with (15) are those which must be satisfied
at the surface of a solid, together with the equation L = 0. It
will be observed that in the case of a free surface the pressures
P', Q', It' are given, whereas in the case of the surface of a solid
they are known only by the solution of the problem. But on the
other hand the form of the surface of the solid is given, whereas
the form of the free surface is known only by the solution of the
problem.
Dubuat found by experiment that when the mean velocity of
water flowing through a pipe is less than about one inch in a
second, the water near the inner surface of the pipe is at rest.
If these experiments may be trusted, the conditions to be satisfied
in the case of small velocities are those which first occurred to me,
and which are included in those just given by supposing v= oo .
I have said that when the velocity is not very small the tan-
gential force called into action by the sliding of water over the
inner surface of a pipe varies nearly as the square of the velocity.
This fact appears to admit of a natural explanation. When a cur-
rent of waterflowspast an obstacle, it produces a resistance varying
nearly as the square of the velocity. Now even if the inner surface
of a pipe is polished we may suppose that little irregularities

exist, forming so many obstacles to the current. Each little pro-
tuberance will experience a resistance varying nearly as the square
of the velocity, from whence there will result a tangential action
of the fluid on the surface of the pipe, which will vary nearly as
the square of the velocity; and the same will be true of the equal
and opposite reaction of the pipe on the fluid. The tangential
force due to this cause will be combined with that by which the
fluid close to the pipe is kept at rest when the velocity is suf-
ficiently small*.
[* Except in the case of capillary tubes, or, in case the tube be somewhat wider,
of excessively slow motions, the main part of the resistance depends upon the
formation of eddies. This much appears clear; but the precise way in which the
eddies act is less evident. The explanation in the text gives probably the correct
account of what takes place in the case of a river flowing over a rough stony bed;
but in the case of a pipe of fairly smooth interior surface the minute protuberances
would be too small to produce much resistance of the same kind as that con-
templated in the paragraph beginning near the foot of p. 53.
What actually happens appears to be this. The rolling motion of the fluid
belonging to the eddies is continually bringing the more swiftly moving fluid which
is found nearer to the centre of the pipe close to the surface. And in consequence
the gliding or shifting motion of the fluid in the immediate neighbourhood of the
surface in such places is very greatly increased, and with it the tangential pressure.
Thus while in some respects these two classes of resistances are similar, in
others they are materially different. As typical examples of the two classes we
may take, for the first, that of a polished sphere of glass of gome size descending
by its weight in deep water; for the second, that of a very long circular glass pipe
down which water is flowing. In both cases alike eddies are produced, and the
eddies once produced ultimately die away. In both cases alike the internal friction
of the fluid, and the friction between the fluid and the solid, are intimately
connected with the formation of eddies, and it is by friction that the eddies die
away, and the kinetic energy of the mass is converted into molecular kinetic
energy, that is, heat. But in the first case the resistance depends mainly on the
difference of the pressure p in front and rear, the resultant of the other forces of which
the expressions are given in equations (8) being comparatively insignificant, while
in the second case it is these latter pressures that we are concerned with, the
resultant of the pressure p in the direction of the axis of the tube being practically
nil, even though the polish of the surface be not mathematically perfect.
Hence if, the motion being what it actually is, the fluidity of the fluid were
suddenly to become perfect, the immediate effect on the resistance in the first case
would be insignificant, while in the second case the resistance would practically
vanish. Of course if the fluidity were to remain perfect, the motion after gome
time would be very different from what it had been before; but that is not a point
under consideration.
Some questions connected with the effect of friction in altering the motion of
a nearly perfect fluid will be considered further on in discussing the case of motion
given in Art. 55 of a paper On the Critical Values of the Sums of Periodic Series.}
7-2
There remains to be considered the case of two fluids having a

common surface. Let u', v', w', p, S' denote the quantities belong-
ing to the second fluid corresponding to u, &c. belonging to the
first. Together with the two equations Z = 0 and (15) we shall
have in this case the equation derived from (15) by putting u, v', w
for u, v, w; or, which comes to the same, we shall have the two
former equations with
l(u — u) -\-m(y-v') + n(w — w) = 0 (18).
If we consider the principles on which equations (17) were formed
to be applicable to the present case, we shall have six more equa-
tions to be satisfied, namely (17), and the three equations derived
from (17) by interchanging the quantities referring to the two
fluids, and changing the signs I, m, n. These equations give the
value of CT, and leave five equations of condition. If we must
suppose v = oo , as appears most probable, the six equations above
mentioned must be replaced by the six u =u,v' = v, w = w, and
Ip — fjf(u, v, w) = lp — fi'f(u', v, w'), &c,
f(u, v,w) denoting the coefficient of /J, in the first of equations (17).
We have here six equations of condition instead of five, but then
the equation (18) becomes identical.
7. The most interesting questions connected with this subject

require for their solution a knowledge of the conditions which
must be satisfied at the surface of a solid in contact with the fluid,
which, except perhaps in case of very small motions, are unknown.
It may be well however to give some applications of the preceding
equations which are independent of these conditions. Let us then
in the first place consider in what manner the transmission of sound
in a fluid is affected by the tangential action. To take the simplest
case, suppose that no forces act on the fluid, so that the pressure
and density are constant in the state of equilibrium, and conceive
a series of plane waves to be propagated in the direction of the
axis of x, so that u =/(&, t), v = 0, w = 0. Let pl be the pressure,
and pf the density of the fluid when it is in equilibrium, and put
p=pt+p'. Then we have from equations (11) and (12), omitting
the square of the disturbance,
1 dp du . du dp' 4 (Pu _ ., „,
r v ;
p/ at dx ' dt dx 3 ax
Let AAp be the increment of pressure due to a very small incre-

ment Ap of density, the temperature being unaltered, and let m
be the ratio of the specific heat of the fluid when the pressure is
constant to its specific heat when the volume is constant; then
the relation between p' and p will be
p' = mA(p-Pl) (20).
Eliminating p and p from (19) and (20) we get
d'u , d2u 4/i cPu .
df da? 3p,dtdcc*
To obtain a particular solution of this equation, let
, ... 2TTX , . .. . 2TTX
u = <p{t) cos ——H Y (t) sin ——.
A* A,
Substituting in the above equation, we see that # (t) and y (t)

must satisfy the same equation, namely,
the integral of which is

<f>(t) = e-<*-(c con-^ +Cain ^j ,
where
G and G' being arbitrary constants. Taking the same expression

with different arbitrary constants for ^(i), replacing products of
sines and cosines by sums and differences, and combining the
resulting sines and cosines two and two, we see that the resulting
value of u represents two series of waves propagated in opposite
directions. Considering only those waves which are propagated
in the positive direction of x, we have
u = Gie~<* cos ^(bt-xj+cA (21).

We see then that the effect of the tangential force is to make
the intensity of the sound diminish as the time increases, and to
render the velocity of propagation less than what it would other-
wise be. Both effects are greater for high, than for low notes;
but the former depends on the first power of p, while the latter
depends only on fi2. It appears from the experiments of M. Biot,
made on empty water pipes in Paris, that the velocity of propaga-
tion of sound is sensibly the same whatever be its pitch. Hence

it is necessary to suppose that for air /j?/\2p* is insensible com-
pared with A or pjpr I am not aware of any simi/ar experiments
made on water, but the ratio of (fi/Xp)2 to A would probably be
insensible for water also. The diminution of intensity as the time
increases is, in the case of plane waves, due entirely to friction;
but as we do not possess any means of measuring the intensity of
sound the theory cannot be tested, nor the numerical value of ji
determined, in this way.
The velocity of sound in air, deduced from the note given by
a known tube, is sensibly less than that determined by direct
observation. Poisson thought that this might be due to the
retardation of the air by friction against the sides of the tube.
But from the above investigation it seems unlikely that the effect
produced by that cause would be sensible.
The equation (21) may be considered as expressing in all
cases the effect of friction; for we may represent an arbitrary
disturbance of the medium as the aggregate of series of plane
waves propagated in all directions.
8. Let us now consider the motion of a mass of uniform
inelastic fluid comprised between two cylinders having a common
axis, the cylinders revolving uniformly about their axis, and the
fluid being supposed to have attained its permanent state of
motion. Let the axis of the cylinders be taken for that of z, and
let q be the actual velocity of any particle, so that u = — q sin 9,
v = q cos 0, w = 0, r and 6 being polar co-ordinates in a plane
parallel to xy.
Observing that
ay ay^_<£i I df I dj
do? + df ~ dr* + r dr V d&z'
wherey* is any function of x and y, and that dpjdd=O, we have
from equations (13), supposing after differentiation that the axis
of oo coincides with the radius vector of the point considered, and
omitting the forces, and the part of the pressure due to them,
dr r r
a*q 1 dq q _ „
+
d?
dr rr dr dr~?-°'
r
and the equation of continuity is satisfied identically.
AND THE EQUILIBRIUM AND MOTION OF ELASTIC! SOLIDS. 103
The integral of (22) is

q— bC r.
If a is the radius of the inner, and b that of the outer cylinder,

and if qlt q2 are the velocities of points close to these cylinders
respectively, we must have q = qt when r = a, and q — q% when
r = b, whence
a
W ) ( b ^ \ (23).
If the fluid is infinitely extended, b = oo , and
These cases of motion were considered by Newton (Principia,

Lib. II. Prop. 51). The hypothesis which I have made agrees in
this case with his, but he arrives at the result that the velocity
is constant, not, that it varies inversely as the distance. This
arises from his having taken, as the condition of their being no
acceleration or retardation of the motion of an annulus, that the
force tending to turn it in one direction must be equal to that
tending to turn it in the opposite, whereas the true condition is
that the moment of the force tending to turn it one way must
be equal to the moment of the force tending to turn it the other.
Of course, making this alteration, it is easy to arrive at the above
result by Newton's reasoning. The error just mentioned vitiates
the result of Prop. 52. It may be shewn from the general equa-
tions that in this case a permanent motion in annuli is impossible,
and that, whatever may be the law of friction between the solid
sphere and the fluid. Hence it appears that it is necessary to
suppose that the particles move in planes passing through the
axis of rotation, while they at the same time move round it. In
fact, it is easy to see that from the excess of centrifugal force in
the neighbourhood of the equator of the revolving sphere the
particles in that part will recede from the sphere, and approach
it again in the neighbourhood of the poles, and this circulating
motion will be combined with a motion about the axis. If how-
ever we leave the centrifugal force out of consideration, as Newton
has done, the motion in annuli becomes possible, but the solution
is different from Newton's, as might have been expected.
The case of motion considered in this article may perhaps

admit of being compared with experiment, without knowing the
conditions which must be satisfied at the surface of a solid. A
hollow, and a solid cylinder might be so mounted as to admit of
being turned with different uniform angular velocities round their
common axis, which is supposed to be vertical. If both cylinders
are turned, they ought to be turned in opposite directions, if only
one, it ought to be the outer one; for if the inner were made to
revolve too fast, the fluid near it would have a tendency to fly
outwards in consequence of the centrifugal force, and eddies would
be produced. As long as the angular velocities are not great, so
that the surface of the liquid is very nearly plane, it is not of much
importance that the fluid is there terminated; for the conditions
which must be satisfied at a free surface are satisfied for any sec-
tion of the fluid made by a horizontal plane, so long as the motion
about that section is supposed to be the same as it would be if the
cylinders were infinite. The principal difficulty would probably be
to measure accurately the time of revolution, and distance from the
axis, of the different annuli. This would probably be best done by
observing motes in the fluid. It might be possible also to discover
in this way the conditions to be satisfied at the surface of the
cylinders; or at least a law might be suggested, which could be
afterwards compared more accurately with experiment by means
of the discharge of pipes and canals.
If the rotations of the cylinders are in opposite directions,

there will be a certain distance from the axis at which the fluid
will not revolve at all. Writing — q1 for q1 in equation (23), we
have for this distance /—X-^ —
V bq2 + aq,
9. Although the discharge of a liquid through a long straight
pipe or canal, under given circumstances, cannot be calculated
without knowing the conditions to be satisfied at the surface of
contact of the fluid and solid, it may be well to go a certain way
towards the solution.
Let the axis of z be parallel to the generating lines of the

pipe or canal, and inclined at an angle a to the horizon; let the
plane yz be vertical, and let y and z be measured downwards.
The motion being uniform, we shall have u = 0, v = 0, w =f(oc, y),

and we have from equations (13)
dv dp dp . (d*w d*w\
"£ = o ^f- =qo cos a, ± = argo sin a + fi - 2^ + - ^ .
dx dy ^ dz \dx dif j
In the case of a canal dp/dz = 0; and the calculation of the
motion in a pipe may always be reduced to that of the motion
in the same pipe when dp/dz is supposed to be zero, as may be
shewn by reasoning similar to Dubuat's. Moreover the motion
in a canal is a particular case of the motion in a pipe. For
consider a pipe for which dp/ds — 0, and which is divided sym-
metrically by the plane xz. From the symmetry of the motion,
it is clear that we must have dw/dy — 0 when z = 0 ; but this is
precisely the condition which would have to be satisfied if the
fluid had a free surface coinciding with the plane xz; hence we
may suppose the upper half of the fluid removed, without affect-
ing the motion of the rest, and thus we pass to the case of a canal.
Hence it is the same thing to determine the motion in a canal,
as to determine that in the pipe formed by completing the canal
symmetrically with respect to the surface of the fluid.
We have then, to determine the motion, the equation
d"w d\o ffp sin a _
ax ay yu.
l a the case of. a rectangular pipe, it would not be difficult to
express the value of w at any point in terms of its values at the
several points of the perimeter of a section of the pipe. In the
case of a cylindrical pipe the solution is extremely easy : for if
we take the axis of the pipe for that of z, and take polar co-
ordinates r, 6 in a plane parallel to an/, and observe that dw/dO = 0,
since the motion is supposed to be symmetrical with respect to
the axis, the above equation becomes
d2w 1 dw gp sin a
ar r dr fi
Let a be the radius of the pipe, and U the velocity of the fluid
close to the surface; then, integrating the above equation, and
determining the arbitrary constants by the conditions that w shall
be finite when r — 0, and w = U when r = a, we have
go sin a . 2„ 2„. TT
w = ^-. (a - r ) + U.
SECTION II.
Objections to Lagrange s proof of the theorem that if udx+vdy+wdz

is an exact differential at any one instant it is always so, the
pressure being supposed equal in all directions. Principles of
M. Cauchy's proof A new proof of the theorem. A physical
interpretation of the circumstance of the above expression
being an exact differential.
10. The proof of this theorem given by Lagrange depends
on the legitimacy of supposing u, v and w capable of expansion
according to positive integral powers of t, for a sufficiently small
finite value of t. It is clear that the expansion cannot contain
negative powers of t, since u, v and w are supposed to be finite
when t = 0 ; but it may be objected to Lagrange's proof that there
are functions of t of which the expansion contains fractional
powers of t, and that we do not know but that u, v and w may
be such functions. This objection has been considered by Mr
Power*, who has shewn that the theorem is true if we suppose
u, v and w capable of expansion according to any powers of t.
Still the proof remains unsatisfactory, in fact inconclusive, for
these are functions of t, (for instance, e~llt?, t logt,) which do not
admit of expansion according to powers of t, integral or fractional,
and we do not know but that u, v and w may be functions of this
nature. I do not here mention the proof which Poisson has
given of the theorem in his Traite de Mecanique, because it
appears to me liable to an objection to which I shall presently
have occasion to refer: in fact, Poisson himself did not think the
theorem generally true.
It is remarkable that Mr Power's proof, if it were legitimate,
would establish the theorem even when account is taken of the
variation of pressure in different directions, according to the
theory explained in Section I., if we suppose that d/x/dp = 0. To
shew this we have only got to treat equations (12) as Mr Power
has treated the three equations of fluid motion formed on the
ordinary hypothesis. Yet in this case the theorem is evidently
untrue. Thus, conceive a mass of fluid which is bounded by
a solid plane coinciding with the plane yz, and which extends
* Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, Vol. vn. (Part 3) p. 455.
infinitely in every direction on the positive side of the axis of x,

and suppose the fluid at first to be at rest. Suppose now the
solid plane to be moved in any manner parallel to the axis of y;
then, unless the solid plane exerts no tangential force on the fluid,
(and we may suppose that it does exert some,) it is clear that at
a given time we shall have w = 0, v=f(x), w = 0, and therefore
udx + vdy + wdz will not be an exact differential. It will be
interesting then to examine in this case the nature of the function
of t which expresses the value of v.
Supposing X, Y, Z to be zero in equations (12), and observing
that in the case considered we have dpjdy = 0, we get
dt~p dx2
Differentiating this equation n — 1 times with respect to t, we
easily get
n
d y y y
n
dt
but when t = 0, v = 0 when x > 0, and therefore for a given value
of x all the differential coefficients of v with respect to t are zero.
Hence for indefinitely small values of t the value of v at a given
point increases more slowly than if it varied ultimately as any
power of t, however great; hence v cannot be expanded in a series
according to powers of t. This result is independent of the con-
dition to be satisfied at the surface of the solid plane.
I think what has just been proved shews clearly that La-
grange's proof of the theorem considered, even with Mr Power's
improvement of it, is inadmissible.
11. The theorem is however true, and a proof of it has been
given by M. Cauchy*, which appears to me perfectly free from
objection, and which is very simple in principle, although it
depends on rather long equations. M. Cauchy first eliminates p
from the three equations of motion by means of the conditions
that d'2p/dxdy = d*p/dydx, &c, he then changes the independent
variables from x, y, z, t to a, b, c, t, where a, b, c are the initial
* Memoire sur la Theorie des Ondes, in the first volume of the Memoires des
savans Strangers. M. Cauchy has not had occasion to enunciate the theorem, but
it is contained in his equations (16). This equation may be obtained in the same
manner in the more general case in which p is supposed to be a function of p.
co-ordinates of the particles. The three transformed equations

admit each of being once integrated with respect to t; and deter-
mining the arbitrary functions of a, b, c by the initial values of
u, v and w, the three integrals have the form
»/ = Fa + Go," + Eco'", &c,
to', t»" and ft)'" denoting here the same as in Art. 2, and £»„', &C.
denoting the initial values of &>', &c. for the same particle. Solving
the above equations with respect to a', to" and ft/", the resulting
equations are
, 1 fdx , dx ,, dx
where 8 is a function of the differential coefficients of as, y and z

with respect to a, b and c, which by the condition of continuity is
shewn to be equal to pjp, p0 being the initial density about the
particle whose density at the time considered is p. Since dx/da, &c.
are finite, (for to suppose them infinite would be equivalent to
supposing a discontinuity to exist in the fluid,) it follows at once
from the preceding equations that if e»0' = 0, <o0" = 0, »„"' = 0, that
is if uoda + vadb + wodc be an exact differential, either for the whole
fluid or for any portion of it, then shall &>' = 0, a>" = 0, a" = 0, i.e.
udx + vdy + wdz will be an exact differential, at any subsequent
time, either for the whole mass or for the above portion of it.
12. It is not from seeing the smallest flaw in M. Cauchy's

proof that I propose a new one, but because it is well to view the
subject in different lights, and because the proof which I am about
to give does not require such long equations. It will be necessary
in the first place to prove the following lemma.
LEMMA. If a^, a>2,...a>n are n functions of t, which satisfy the
n differential equations
1 (25),
dm _
where P i ; Q1...Vn may be functions of t, wv..&>„, and if when 6^= 0,

&>2 = 0...o)n = 0, none of the quantities Pt, ... Vn is infinite for any
value of t from 0 to T, and if (o1...an are each zero when t = 0,

then shall each of these quantities remain zero for all values of t
from 0 to T.
DEMONSTRATION. Let T be a finite value of t, then by hypo-

thesis T may be taken so small that the values of co1...u>n are suf-
ficiently small to exclude all values which might render any one
of the quantities P1...Vn infinite. Let L be a superior limit to
the numerical values of the several quantities P1...Yn for all
values of t from 0 to T ; then it is evident that mv..mn cannot
increase faster than if they satisfied the equations
dm, _ j , N T
(26),
vanishing in this case also when t = 0. But if ro1 + w2... + mn = £1,

we have by adding together the above equations
dO,
dt
if now D, be not equal to zero, dividing this equation by O and
integrating, we have
O = CenU;
but no value of 0 different from zero will allow O to vanish
when t = 0, whereas by hypothesis it does. vanish; hence 0 = 0 ;
but O is the sum of n quantities which evidently cannot be nega-
tive, and therefore each of these must be zero. Since then a>1...mn
would have to be equal to zero for all values of t from 0 to T even
if they satisfied equations (26), they must & fortiori be equal to
zero in the actual case, since they satisfy equations (25). Hence
there is no value of t from 0 to I 7 at which any one of the
quantities a>1...con can begin to differ from zero, and therefore
these quantities must remain equal to zero for all values of t
from 0 to T.
This lemma might be extended to the case in which n = oo ,
with certain restrictions as to the convergency of the series. We
may also, instead of the integers 1, 2...n, have a continuous
variable a which varies from 0 to a, so that a> is a function of
the independent variables a and t, satisfying the differential

equation
da> [a . . . ,
where ^(a, 0, £) does not become infinite for any value of a from 0
to a combined with any value of t from 0 to T. It may be shewn,
just as before, that if &> = 0 when £ = 0 for all values of a from
0 to a, then must w = 0 for all values of t from 0 to T. The proposi-
tion might be further extended to the case in which a = oo , with
a certain restriction as to the convergency of the integral, but
equations (25) are already more general than I shall have occa-
sion to employ.
It appears to me to be sometimes assumed as a principle that
two variables, functions of another, t, are proved to be equal for
all values of t when it is shewn that they are equal for a certain
value of t, and that whenever they are equal for the same value
of t their increments for the same increment of t are ultimately
equal. But according to this principle, if two curves could be
shewn always to touch when they meet they must always coincide,
a conclusion manifestly false. I confess I cannot see that Newton
in his Principia, Lib. I., Prop. 40, has proved more than that if
the velocities of the two bodies are equal at equal distances, the in-
crements of those velocities for equal increments of the distances
are ultimately equal: at least something additional seems re-
quired to put the proof quite out of the reach of objection.
Again it is usual to speak of the condition, that the motion of
a particle of fluid in contact with the surface of a solid at rest
is tangential to the surface, as the same thing as the condition
that the particle shall always remain in contact with the surface.
That it is the same thing might be shewn by means of the lemma
in this article, supposing the motion continuous; but independ-
ently of proof I do not see why a particle should not move in
a curve not coinciding with the surface, but touching it where
it meets it. The same remark will apply to the condition that
a particle which at one instant lies in a free surface, or is in
contact with a solid, shall ultimately lie in the free surface, or be
in contact with the solid, at the consecutive instant. I refer here
to the more general case in which the solid is at rest or in motion.
For similar reasons Poisson's proof of the Hydrodynamical theorem
AND THE EQUILIBRIUM AND MOTION OF ELASTIC SOLIDS. Ill
which forms the principal subject of this section has always ap-
peared to me unsatisfactory, in fact far less satisfactory than
Lagrange's. I may add that Poisson's proof, as well as Lagrange's,
would apply to the case in which friction is taken into account,
in which case the theorem is not true.
13. Supposing p to be a function of p, 1//' (p), the ordinary

equations of Hydrodynamics are
df(p)_ Du df(p)__ Dv <¥(£)^y_I)w Am
dx ~ Dt' dy ~ Dt' dz Bt'"K ''
The forces X, Y, Z will here be supposed to be such that
Xdx + Ydy + Zdz is an exact differential, this being the case
for any forces emanating from centres, and varying as any func-
tions of the distances. Differentiating the first equations (27)
with respect to y, and the second with respect to x, subtracting,
putting for Du/Dt and JDv/Dt their values, adding and subtracting
dujdz. dv/dz, and employing the notation of Art. 2, we obtain
Deo" du , dv „
(du dv\ ,„ . .
CO
Dt dz - \dx
-7" + dy
dzT- I « (28).
v
\dx dy/ '
By treating the first and third, and then the second and third of
equations (27) in the same manner, we should obtain two more
equations, which may be got at once from that which has just
been found by interchanging the requisite quantities. Now for
points in the interior of the mass the differential coefficients
dujdz, &c. will not be infinite, on account of the continuity of the
motion, and therefore the three equations just obtained are a
particular case of equations (25). If then udx + vdy + wdz is an
exact differential for any portion of the fluid when t — 0, that is,
if co', u>" and co'" are each zero when t = 0, it follows from the
lemma of the last article that co', co" and co'" will be zero for any
value of t, and therefore udx + vdy + wdz will always remain an
exact differential. It will be observed that it is for the same
portion of fluid, not for the fluid occupying the same portion of
space, that this is true, since equations (28), &c. contain the
differential coefficients Dco'jDt, &c, and not dco'/dt, &c.
14. The circumstance of udx + vdy + wdz being an exact

differential admits of a physical interpretation which may be
noticed, as it is well to view a subject of this nature in different

lights.
Conceive an indefinitely small element of a fluid in motion
to become suddenly solidified, and the fluid about it to be suddenly
destroyed; let the form of the element be so taken that the re-
sulting solid shall be that which is the simplest with respect to
rotatory motion, namely, that which has its three principal
moments about axes passing through the centre of gravity equal
to each other, and therefore every axis passing through that point'
a principal axis, and let us enquire what will be the linear and
angular motion of this element just after solidification.
By the instantaneous solidification, velocities will be suddenly
generated or destroyed in the different portions of the element,
and a set of mutual impulsive forces will be called into action.
Let x, y, z be the co-ordinates of the centre of gravity G of the
element at the instant of solidification, x + x, y + y, z + z those
of any other point in it. Let u, v, w be the velocities of G along
the three axes just before solidification, u, v', w the relative velo-
cities of the point whose relative co-ordinates are x, y, z. Let
u, v, w be the velocities of G, ult vt, wl the relative velocities of the
point above mentioned, and a, a>", a>" the angular velocities just
after solidification. Since all the impulsive forces are internal, we
have _
U — U, V = V, W = W.
We have also, by the principle of conservation of areas,

~Zm [y (iv/ — w) — z (vt — «')} = 0, &c,
m denoting an element of the mass of the element considered.
But ut = a>"z — co'"y', u is ultimately equal to
du , da , du ,
dx dy* dz
and similar expressions hold good for the other quantities. Sub-
stituting in the above equations, and observing that
~2,my'z = "Zm'z'x = tmx'y = 0, and 2m«'2 = 2,my'2 = Sm/ 2 ,
. , , (dw dv\ „
we have o> = * -= r , &c.
\dy dz)
We see then that an indefinitely small element of the fluid,
of which the three principal moments about the centre of gravity
AND THE EQUILIBKIUM AND MOTION OF ELASTIC SOLIDS. 1 1 3
are equal, if suddenly solidified and detached from the rest of the
fluid will begin to move with a motion simply of translation,
which may however vanish, or a motion of translation combined
with one of rotation, according as udx + vdy + wdz is, or is not an
exact differential, and in the latter case the angular velocities
will be the same as in Art. 2.
The principle which forms the subject of this section might
be proved, at least in the case of a homogeneous incompressible
fluid, by considering the change in the motion of a spherical
element of the fluid in the indefinitely small time dt. This
method of proving the principle would shew distinctly its inti-
mate connexion with the hypothesis of normal pressure, or the
equivalent hypothesis of the equality of pressure in all directions,
since the proof depends on the impossibility of an angular velo-
city being generated in the element in the indefinitely small
time dt by the pressure of the surrounding fluid, inasmuch as the
direction of the pressure at any point of the surface ultimately
passes through the centre of the sphere. The proof I speak of
is however less simple than the one already given, and would
lead me too far from my subject.
SECTION III.
Application of a method analogous to that of Sect. I. to the

determination of the equations of equilibrium and motion of
elastic solids.
15. All solid bodies are more or less elastic, as is shewn by
the capability they possess of transmitting sound, and vibratory
motions in general. The solids considered in this section are
supposed to be homogeneous and uncrystallized, so that when in
their natural state the average arrangement of their particles is
the same at one point as at another, and the same in one direction
as in another. The natural state will be taken to be that in which
no forces act on them, from which it may be shewn that the pres-
sure in the interior is zero at all points and in all directions,
neglecting the small pressure depending on attractions of the
nature of capillary attraction.
Let x, y, z be the co-ordinates of any point P in the solid con-
sidered when in its natural state, a, /3, 7 the increments of those
s. 8
co-ordinates at the time considered, whether the body be in a state

of constrained equilibrium or of motion. It will be supposed that
a, yS and 7 are so small that their squares and products may be
neglected. All the theorems proved in Art. 2 with reference to
linear and angular velocities will be true here with reference to
linear and angular displacements, since these two sets of quantities
are resolved according to the same laws, as long as the angular
displacements are supposed to be very small. Thus, the most
general displacement of a very small element of the solid consists
of a displacement of translation, an angular displacement, and three
displacements of extension in the direction of three rectangular
axeSj which may be called in this case, with more propriety than in
the former, axes of extension. The three displacements of extension
may be resolved into two displacements of shifting, each in two
dimensions, and a displacement of uniform dilatation, positive or
negative. The pressures about the element considered will depend
on the displacements of extension only; there may also, in the
case of motion, be a small part depending on the relative velocities,
but this part may be neglected, unless we have occasion to consider
the effect of the internal friction in causing the vibrations of solid
bodies to subside. It has been shewn (Art. 7) that the effect of
this cause is insensible in the case of sound propagated through
air; and there is no reason to suppose it greater in the case of
solids than in the case of fluids, but rather the contrary. The
capability which solids possess of being put into a state of isochro-
nous vibration shews that the pressures called into action by small
displacements depend on homogeneous functions of those displace-
ments of one dimension. I shall suppose moreover, according to
the general principle of the superposition of small quantities, that
the pressures due to different displacements are .superimposed, and
consequently that the pressures are linear functions of the dis-
placements. Since squares of a, /3 and 7 are neglected, these
pressures may be referred to a unit of surface in the natural state
or after displacement indifferently, and a pressure which is normal
to any surface after displacement may be regarded as normal to
the original position of that surface. Let — AS be the pressure
corresponding to a uniform linear dilatation 8 when the solid is in
equilibrium, and suppose that it becomes — mAS, in consequence
of the heat developed, when the solid is in a state of rapid vibra-
tion. Suppose also that a displacement of shifting parallel to
AND THE EQUILIBRIUM AND MOTION OF ELASTIC SOLIDS. 1 1 5
the plane xy, for which a = kx, /3 = — ky, 7 = 0, calls into action a
pressure — Bk on a plane perpendicular to the axis of x, and a
pressure Bk on a plane perpendicular to that of y; the pressures
on these planes being equal and of opposite signs, that on a plane
perpendicular to the axis of z being zero, and the tangential forces
on those planes being zero, for the same reasons as in Sect. I. It
may also be shewn as before that it is necessary to suppose B
positive, in order that the equilibrium of the solid medium may
be stable, and it is easy to see that the same must be the case
with A for the same reason.
It is clear that we shall obtain the expressions for the pressures
from those already found for the case of a fluid by ;merely putting
a, /3, 7, B for u, v, w, fi, and — AS or — in AS for p, according as we
are considering the case of equilibrium or of vibratory motion, the
body being in the latter case supposed to be constrained only in
so far as depends on the motion.
For the case of equilibrium then we have from equations (8)
8 being here = i6 I-7- + -5—\- -r); and the equations of equilibrium

\dx dy dzj ^
vvill be obtained from (12) by putting Du/Dt = 0, p = — AS, making
the same substitution as before for u, v, w and /A. We have there-
fore, for the equations of equilibrium,
d (da d(3 <
(xco \tii9G cLy (
- H T T i l - O , &C (30).
K
dy' dz'j '
In the case of a vibratory motion, when the body is in its
natural state except so far as depends on the motion, we have
from equations (8)
<V'"C (31)>
and the equations of motion will be derived from. (12) as before,

only DujDt &c. must be replaced by dlajdi &c, and X, Y, Z put
equal to zero. The equations of motion, then, are
8—2
+*(£+$+£>•*•
16. The conditions to be satisfied at the surface of the solid
may be easily deduced from the analogous conditions in the case
of a fluid with a free surface, only it will be necessary to replace
the normal pressure II by an oblique pressure, of which the com-
ponents will be denoted by Xlt Y1, Zt. We have then, making
the necessary changes in the quantities involved in (14),
(n7^2 [da d/3\ fdoL dy\\ .
{ dx \dy dxj \dz dxj)
for the case of equilibrium, and for the case of motion such as that
just considered it will only be necessary to replace A by mA in
these equations. If we measure the angles of which I, m, n are
the cosines from the external normal, the forces JT,, Yt, Zt must be
reckoned positive when, I, m and n being positive, the surface of
the solid is urged in the negative directions of x, y, z, and in other
cases the signs must be taken conformably.
If the solid considered is in a state of constraint when at rest,
and is moreover put into a state of vibration, the pressures and
displacements due to these two causes must be calculated separately
and added together. If m were equal to 1, they could be calcu-
lated together from the same equations.
SECTION IV.
Principles of Poissons theory of elastic solids, and of the oblique

pressures existing in fluids in motion. Objections to one of his
hypotheses. Reflections on the constitution, and equations of
motion of the luminiferous ether in vacuum.
17. In the twentieth Cahier of the Journal de XEcole Polytech-
nique may be found a memoir by Poisson, entitled Memoire sur les
Equations generales de I'Equilibre et du Mouvement des Co?ps
solides e'lastiques et des Fluides, which contains the substance of
two memoirs presented by him to the Academy, brought together
with some additions. In this memoir the author treats principally
of the equations of equilibrium and motion of elastic solids, of the

equations of equilibrium of fluids, with reference especially to
capillary attraction, and of the equations of motion of fluids, sup-
posing the pressure not to be equal in all directions.
It is supposed by Poisson that all bodies, whether solid or
fluid, are composed of ultimate molecules, separated from each
other by vacant spaces. In the cases of au uncrystallized solid
ia its natural state, and of a fluid in equilibrium, he supposes
that the molecules are arranged irregularly, and that the average
arrangement is the same in all directions. These molecules he
supposes to act on each other with forces, of which the main
part is a force in the direction of the line joining the centres of
gravity, and varying as some function of the distance of these
points, and the remainder a secondary force, or it may be two
secondary forces, depending on the molecules not being mathe-
matical points. He supposes that it is on these secondary forces
that the solidity of solid bodies depends. He supposes however
that in calculating the pressures these secondary forces may be
neglected, partly because they become insensible at much smaller
distances than the main part of the forces, and partly because they
act, on the average, alike in all directions. He supposes that the
molecular force decreases very rapidly as the distance increases,
yet not so rapidly but that the sphere in which the molecular
action is sensible contains an immense number of molecules. He
supposes consequently that in estimating the resultant force of a
hemisphere of the medium on a molecule in the centre of its base
the action of the neighbouring molecules, which are situated
irregularly, may be neglected compared with the action of those
more remote, of which the average may be taken. The consequence
of this supposition of course is that the total action is normal to
the base of the hemisphere, and sensibly the same for one molecule
as for an adjacent one.
The rest of the reasoning by which Poisson establishes the
equations of motion and equilibrium of elastic solids is purely
mathematical, sufficient data having been already assumed. It
might appear that the reasoning in Art. 16 of his memoir, by
which the expression for iV is simplified, required the fres-h hypo-
thesis of a symmetrical arrangement of the molecules; but it really
does not, being admissible according to the principle of averages.
Taking for the natural state of the body that in which the pressure
is zero, the equations at which Poisson arrives contain only one
unknown constant k, whereas the equations of Sect. III. of this
paper contain two, A or mA and B. This difference depends on
the assumption made by Poisson that the irregular part of the
force exerted by a hemisphere of the medium on a molecule in the
centre of its base may be neglected in comparison with the whole
force. As a result of this hypothesis, Poisson finds that the change
in direction, and the proportionate change in length, of a line
joining two molecules are continuous functions of the co-ordinates
of one of the molecules and the angles which determine the direc-
tion of the line; whereas in Sect, in., if we adopt the hypothesis
of ultimate molecules at all, it is allowable to suppose that these
quantities vary irregularly in passing from one pair of molecules
to an adjacent pair. Of course the equations of Sect. in. ought to
reduce themselves to Poisson's equations for a particular relation
between A and B. Neglecting the heat developed by compression,
as Poisson has done, and therefore putting m = 1, this relation is
A=5B.
18. Poisson's theory of fluid motion is as follows. The time

t is supposed to be divided into a number n of equal parts, each
equal to T. In the first of these the fluid is supposed to be dis-
placed as an elastic solid would be, according to Poisson's previous
theory, and therefore the pressures are given by the same equa-
tions. If the causes producing the displacement were now to
cease, the fluid would re-arrange itself, so that the average arrange-
ment about each point should be the same in all directions after
a very short time. During this time, the pressures would have
altered, in an unknown manner, from those corresponding to a
displaced solid to a normal pressure equal to p + Dp/Dt. T, the
pressures during the alteration involving an unknown function of
the time elapsed since the end of the interval T. Another dis-
placement and another re-arrangement may now be supposed to
to take place, and so on. But since these very small relative mo-
tions will take place independently of each other, we may suppose
each displacement to begin at the expiration of the time during
which the preceding one is supposed to remain, and we may sup-
pose each re-arrangement to be going on during the succeeding
displacements. Supposing now n to become infinite, we pass to
the case in which the fluid is supposed to be continually beginning

to be displaced as a solid would, and continually re-arranging itself
so as to make the average arrangement about each point the same
in all directions.
Poisson's equations (9), page 152, which are applicable to the
motion of a liquid, or of an elastic fluid in which the change of
density is small, agree with equations (12) of this paper. For the
quantity tyl is the pressure p which would exist at any instant if
the motion were then to cease, and the increment, - ^ - T or -=^ T,
of this quantity in the very small time T will depend only on
the increment, —^ T or -J£T, of the density ;$ or p. Consequently
the value of ~^— r will be the same as if the density of the par-
ticle considered passed from yt to yt + -~ r in the time T by a

uniform motion of dilatation. I suppose that according to Pois-
son's views such a motion would not require a re-arrangement of
the molecules, since the pressure remains equal in all directions.
On this supposition we shall get the value of -£- from that of
dt
R'— Kin the equations of page 140 by putting
du _dv _ dw _ 1 dyt
dx dy dz 3%t dt
We have therefore
dt 3^ y
Putting now for /3 + /3' its value 2ah, and for — -%- its value given
by equation (2), the expression forOT,page 152, becomes
{du dv dw\
\dx dy dz
Observing that a (K + h) = (3, this value of w reduces Poisson's
equations (9) to the equations (12) of this paper.
Poisson himself has not made this reduction of his equations,
nor any equivalent one, so that his equations, as he has left them,
involve two arbitrary constants. The reduction of these two to

one depends on the assumption that a uniform expansion of any
particle does not require a re-arrangement of the molecules, as it
leaves the pressure still equal in all directions. If we do not
make this assumption, but retain the two arbitrary constants, the
equations will be the same as those which would be obtained by
the method of this paper, supposing the quantity K of Art. 3 not
to be zero.
19. There is one hypothesis made in the common theory of

elastic solids, the truth of which appears to me very questionable.
That hypothesis is the one to which I have already alluded in
Art. 17, respecting the legitimacy of neglecting the irregular part
of the action of the molecules in the immediate neighbourhood of
the one considered, in comparison with the total action of those
more remote, which is regular. It is from this hypothesis that it
follows as a result that the molecules are not displaced among one
another in an irregular manner, in consequence of the directive
action of neighbouring molecules. Now it is obvious that the
molecules of a fluid admit of being displaced among one another
with great readiness. The molecules of solids, or of most solids
at any rate, must admit of new arrangements, for most solids
admit of being bent, permanently, without being broken. Are we
then to suppose that when a solid is constrained it has no tendency
to relieve itself from the state of constraint, in consequence of its
molecules tending towards new relative positions, provided the
amount of constraint be very small ? It appears to me to be much
more natural to suppose a priori that there should be some such
tendency.
In the case of a uniform dilatation or contraction of a particle,
a re-arrangement of its molecules would be of little or no avail
towards relieving it from constraint, and therefore it is natural to
suppose that in this case there is little or no tendency towards such
a re-arrangement. It is quite otherwise, however, in the case of
what I have called a displacement of shifting. Consequently B
will be less than if there were no tendency to a re-arrangement.
On the hypothesis mentioned in this article, of which the absence
of such tendency is a consequence, I have said that a relation has
been found between A and B, namely A — 55. It is natural
then to expect to find the ratio of A to B greater than o, ap-
AXD THE EQUILIBRIUM AND MOTION OF ELASTIC SOLIDS. 1 2 1
preaching more nearly to 5 as the solid considered is more hard

and brittle, but differing materially from 5 for the softer solids,
especially such as India rubber, or, to take an extreme case, jelly.
According to this view the relation A — 5B belongs only to an
ideal elastic solid, of which the solidity, or whatever we please to
call the property considered, is absolutely perfect.
To shew how implicitly the common theory of elasticity seems

to be received by some, I may mention that MM. Lame" and
Clapeyron mention Indian rubber among the substances to which
it would seem they consider their theory applicable*. I do not
know whether the coefficient of elasticity, according to that theory,
has been determined experimentally for India rubber, but one
would fancy that the cubical compressibility thence deduced, by a
method which will be seen in the next article, would turn out com-
parable with that of a gas.
20. I am not going to enter into the solution of equations (30),

but I wish to make a few remarks on the results in some simple
cases.
If k be the cubical contraction due to a uniform pressure P ,
then will
If a wire or rod, of which the boundary is any cylindrical sur-

face, be pulled in the direction of its length by a force of which
the value, referred to a unit of surface of a section of the rod, in P ,
the rod will extend itself uniformly in the direction of its length,
and contract uniformly in the perpendicular direction ; and if e
be the extension in the direction of the length, and c the contraction
in any perpendicular direction, both referred to a unit of length,
we shall have
_A+B _A-W
6
ZAB ' C~ 6AB r '
P
also, the cubical dilatation = e — 2c = -r .
If a cylindrical wire of radius r be twisted by a couple of which
* Memoires des savans Etrantjen, Tom. iv. p. 469.
the moment is M, and if 0 be the angle of torsion for a length z of

the wire, we shall have
wBr*
The expressions for k, c, e and 9, and of course all expressions
of the same nature, depend on the reciprocals of A and B. Sup-
pose now the value of e, or 6, or any similar quantity not depending
on A alone, be given as the result of observation. It will easily
be conceived that we might find very nearly the same value for B
whether we supposed A = bB or A = nB, where n may be consider-
ably greater than 5, or even infinite. Consequently the observation
of two such quantities, giving very nearly the same value of B,
might be regarded as confirming the common equations.
If we denote by E the coefficient of elasticity when A is
supposed to be equal to 5B we have, neglecting the atmospheric
pressure *,
2P fl2ilfe
If now we denote by Et the value of E deduced from observation

of the value of e, and by E2 the value of E obtained by observing
the value of 8, or else, which comes to the same, by observing the
time of oscillation of a known body oscillating by torsion, we shall
have
2 ./I 1\ „ „ , 1 6 1
If A be greater than bB, Ex ought to be a little greater than Er

This appears to agree with observation. Thus the following num-
bers are given by M. Lame"f Ex= 8000, E2= 7500 for iron; Ex= 2510,
E2= 2250 for brassj. The difference between the values of El and
E2 is attributed by M. Lame to the errors to which the obser-
vation of the small quantity e is liable. If the above numbers
may be trusted, we shall have
A = 60000, B = 7500, ~ = 8 for iron;
A = 29724, B = 2250, 4 = 13"21 for brass.

* Lam6, Cows de Physique, Tom. I.
t Lame, Cours de Physique, Tom. i.
J These numbers refer to the French units of length and weight.
The cubical contraction k is almost too small to be made the

subject of direct observation*, it is therefore iisually deduced from
the value of e, or from the coefficient of elasticity E found in some
other way. On the supposition of a single coefficient E, we have
k/e = f, but retaining the two, A and B, we have
Aj A'
which will differ greatly from § if A/B be much greater than 5.
The whole subject therefore requires, I think, a careful examina-
tion, before we can set down the values of the coefficients of cubical
contraction of different substances in the list of well ascertained
physical data. The result, which is generally admitted, that the
ratio of the velocity of propagation of normal, to that of tangential
vibrations in a solid is equal to *J3, is another which depends en-
tirely on the supposition that A = 5B. The value of m, again, as
deduced from observation, will depend upon the ratio of A to B;
and it would be highly desirable to have an accurate list of the
values of m for different substances, in hopes of thereby discover-
ing in what manner the action of heat on those substances is
related to the physical constants belonging to them, such as their
densities, atomic weights, &c.
The observations usually made on elastic solids are made on
slender pieces, such as wires, rods, and thin plates. In such pieces,
all the particles being at no great distance from the surface, it is easy
to see that when any small portion is squeezed in one direction it
has considerable liberty of expanding itself in a direction perpen-
dicular to this, and consequently the results must depend mainly
on the value of B, being not very different from what they would
be if A were infinite. This is not so much the case with thick,
stout pieces. If therefore such pieces could be put into a state of
isochronous vibration, so that the musical notes and nodal lines
could be observed, they would probably be better adapted than
slender pieces for determining the value of mA. The value of
* I find however that direct experiments have been made by Prof. Oersted.
According to these experiments the cubical compressibility of solids which would
be obtained from Poisson's theory is in some eases as much as 20 or 30 times too
great. See the Report of the British Association for 1833, p. 353, or Archives des
decouvertes, &c. for 1834, p. 94. [It is to be noted that Oersted's method gives only
differences of compressibility.]
in might be determined by comparing the value of niA, deduced

from the observation of vibrations, with the value of A, deduced
from observations made in cases of equilibrium, or, perhaps, of very
slow motion.
21. The equations (32) are the same as those which have
been obtained by different authors as the equations of motion of
the luminiferous ether in vacuum. Assuming for the present
that the equations of motion of this medium ought to be deter-
mined on the same principles as the equations of motion of an
elastic solid, it will be necessary to consider whether the equations
(32) are altered by introducing the consideration of a uniform
pressure II existing in the medium when in equilibrium; for we
have evidently no right to assume, either that no such pressure
exists, or, supposing it to exist, that the medium would expand
itself but very slightly if it were removed. It will now no longer
be allowable to confound the pressure referred to a unit of surface
as it was, in the position of equilibrium of the medium, with
the pressure referred to a unit of surface as it actually is. The
latter mode of referring the pressure is more natural, and will
be more convenient. Let the pressure, referred to a unit of
surface at it is, be resolved into a normal pressure II + pl and a
tangential pressure tx. All the reasoning of Sect. III. will apply
to the small forces px and tt; only it must be remembered that
in estimating the whole oblique pressure a normal pressure II
must be compounded with the pressures given by equations (31).
In forming the equations of motion, the pressure II will not
appear, because the resultant force due to it acting on the element
of the medium which is considered is zero. The equations (32)
will therefore be the equations of motion required.
If we had chosen to refer the pressure to a unit of surface in
the original state of the surface, and had resolved the whole
pressure into a pressure II + pl normal to the original position
of the surface, and a pressure tl tangential to that position, the
reasoning of Sec. III. would still have applied, and we should
have obtained the same expressions as in (31) for the pressures
Pv Tt, &c, but the numerical value of A would have been
different. According to this method, the pressure II would have
appeared in the equations of motion. It is when the pressures
are measured according to the method which I have adopted that
it is true that the equilibrium of the medium would be unstable

if either A or B were negative. I must here mention that from
some oversight the right-hand sides of Poisson's equations, at
page 68 of the memoir to which I have referred, are wrong. The
first of these equations ought to contain — I -r 2 + -r-i + -y-5 I ,
instead of — -r-s, and similar changes must be made in the other

p doc
two equations.
It is sometimes brought as an objection to the equations of
motion of the luminiferous ether, that they are the same as those
employed for the motion of solid bodies, and that it seems un-
natural to employ the same equations for substances which must
be so differently constituted. It was, perhaps, in consequence
of this objection that Poisson proposes, at page 147 of the memoir
which I have cited, to apply to the calculation of the motion of
the lumiferous ether the same principles, with a certain modifica-
tion, as those which he employed in arriving at his equations (9)
page 152, i.e. the equations (12) of this paper. That modification
consists in supposing that a certain function of the time <f> (t) does
not vary very rapidly compared with the variation of the pressure.
Now the law of the transmission of a motion transversal to the
direction of propagation depending on equations (12) of this paper
is expressed, in the simplest case, by the equation (24); and we
see that this law is the same as that of the transmission of heat,
a law extremely different from that of the transmission of vi-
bratory motions. It seems therefore unlikely that these principles
are applicable to the calculation of the motion of light, unless
the modification which I have mentioned be so great as wholly
to alter the character of the motion, that is, unless we suppose the
pressure to vary extremely fast compared with the function <f> (t),
whereas in ordinary cases of the motion of fluids the function <f> (t)
is supposed to vary extremely fast compared with the pressure.
Another view of the subject may be taken which I think
deserves notice. Before explaining this view however it will be
necessary to define what I mean in this paragraph by the word
elasticity. There are two distinct kinds of elasticity; one, that
by which a body which is uniformly compressed tends to
regain its original volume, the other, that by which a body
which is constrained in a manner independent of compres-
sion tends to assume its original form. The constants A and

B of Sec. III. may be taken as measures of these two kinds
of elasticity. In the present paragraph, the word will be used
to denote the second kind. Now many highly elastic substances,
as iron, copper, &c, are yet to a very sensible degree plastic. The
plasticity of lead is greater than that of iron or copper, and, as
appears from experiment, its elasticity less. On the whole it
is probable that the greater the plasticity of a substance the less
its elasticity, and vice versa, although this rule is probably far
from being without exception. When the plasticity of the sub-
stance is still further increased, and its elasticity diminished,
it passes into a viscous fluid. There seems no line of demarcation
between a solid and a viscous fluid. In fact, the practical dis-
tinction between these two classes of bodies seems to depend on
the intensity of the extraneous force of gravity, compared with
the intensity of the forces by which the parts of the substance
are held together. Thus, what on the Earth is a soft solid might,
if carried to the Sun, and retained at the same temperature, be
a viscous fluid, the force of gravity at the surface of the Sun
being sufficient to make the substance spread out and become
level at the top: while what on the Earth is a viscous fluid might
on the surface of Pallas be a soft solid. The gradation of viscous,
into what are called perfect fluids seems to present as little ab-
ruptness as that of solids into viscous fluids; and some experiments
which have been made on the sudden conversion of water and
ether into vapour, when enclosed in strong vessels and exposed
to high temperatures, go towards breaking down the distinction
between liquids and gases.
According to the law of continuity, then, we should expect
the property of elasticity to run through the whole series, only,
it may become insensible, or else may be masked by some other
more conspicuous property. It must be remembered that the
elasticity here spoken of is that which consists in the tangential
force called into action by a displacement of continuous sliding:
the displacements also which will be spoken of in this paragraph
must be understood of such displacements as are independent
of condensation or rarefaction. Now the distinguishing property
of fluids is the extreme mobility of their parts. According to
the views explained in this article, this mobility is merely an
extremely great plasticity, so that a fluid admits of a finite, but
exceedingly small amount of constraint before it will be relieved

from its state of tension by its molecules assuming new positions
of equilibrium. Consequently the same oblique pressures can
be called into action in a fluid as in a solid, provided the amount
of relative displacement of the parts be exceedingly small. All
we know for certain is that the effect of elasticity in fluids,
(elasticity of the second kind be it remembered,) is quite insensible
in cases of equilibrium, and it is probably insensible in all ordinary
cases of fluid motion. Should it be otherwise, equations (8) and
(12) will not be true, or only approximately true. But a little
consideration will shew that the property of elasticity may be
quite insensible in ordinary cases of fluid motion, and may yet
be that on which the phenomena of light entirely depend. When
we find a vibrating string, the small extent of vibration of which
can be actually seen, filling a whole room with sound, and re-
member how rapidly the intensity of the vibrations of the air
must diminish as the distance from the string increases*, we may
easily conceive how small in general must be the amount of the
relative motion of adjacent particles of air in the case of sound.
Now the extent of the vibration of the ether, in the case of light,
may be as small compared with the length of a wave of light
as that of the air is compared with the length of a wave of sound :
we have no reason to suppose it otherwise. When we remember
then that the length of a wave of sound in air varies from some
inches to several feet, while the greatest length of a wave of
light is about -00003 of an inch, it is easy to imagine that the
relative displacement of the particles of ether may be so small
as not to reach, nor even come near to the greatest relative dis-
placement which could exist without the molecules of the medium
assuming new positions of equilibrium, or, to keep clear of the
idea of molecules, without the medium assuming a new arrange-
ment which might be permanent.
It has been supposed by some that air, like the luminiferous
ether, ought to admit of transversal vibrations. According to
the views of this article such would, mathematically speaking,
be the case; but the extent of such vibrations would be necessarily
so very small as to render them utterly insensible, unless we had
* [In all ordinary cases it is to the vibrations of the sounding-board, or of
the supporting body acting as a sounding-board, and not to those of the string
directly, that the sound is almost wholly due.]
organs with a delicacy equal to that of the retina adapted to

receive them.
It has been shewn to be highly probable that the ratio of A
to B increases rapidly according as the medium considered is
softer and more plastic. For fluids therefore, and among them
for the luminiferous ether, we should expect the ratio of A to B
to be extremely great. Now if JV be the velocity of propagation
of normal vibrations in the medium considered in Sect. III., and
T that of transversal vibrations, it may be shewn from equations
(32) that
y , _ mA + 42? Ti_B
3p p
This is very easily shewn in the simplest case of plane waves: for
if /3 = Y = 0, a=/(x), the equations (32) give
whence a = <p (Nt — x)+i(r(N't+%); and if a = y-0, fi=f(x),

t h e same equations give p -*'• — B -^ , whence
Consequently we should expect to find the ratio of N to T ex-

tremely great. This agrees with a conclusion of the late Mi-
Green's*. Since the equilibrium of any medium would be
unstable if either A or B were negative, the least possible value
of the ratio of N* to T2 is f, a result at which Mr Green also
arrived. As however it has been shewn to be highly probable
that A > oB even for the hardest solids, while for the softer ones A/B
is much greater than 5, it is probable that N/T is greater than ^3
for the hardest solids, and much greater for the softer ones.
If we suppose that in the luminiferous ether A/B may be con-
sidered infinite, the equations of motion admit of a simplification.
For if we put mA [ ,- + -y- + ^ ) = —« in equations (32), and
\dx ay dz/ -r i
suppose mA to become infinite while p remains finite, the equa-
tions become
* Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, Vol. vn. Part I. p. 2.
d*a dp „ (d\ d*a d*a\ }

r
dt dx \dx dy dz I
dot dft dy
and -j- + --T- + -j- = 0.
dx dy dz
When a vibratory motion is propagated in a medium of which
(33) are the equations of motion, it may be shewn that p = yjr (t)
if the medium be indefinitely extended, or else if there be no
motion at its boundaries. In considering therefore the trans-
mission of light in an uninterrupted vacuum the terms involving
p will disappear from equations (33); but these terms are, I
believe, important in explaining Diffraction, which is the principal
phenomenon the laws of which depend only on the equations of
motion of the luminiferous ether in vacuum. It will be observed
that putting A = co comes to the same thing as regarding the
ether as incompressible with respect to those motions which
constitute Light.
s.

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[From the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society,

Vol. VIII. p. 287.]

ON THE THEORIES OF THE INTEBNAL FRICTION OF FLUIDS

[Bead April 14, 1845.]

Thus, when a ball pendulum oscillates in an indefinitely ex-

they are. formed. I afterwards found that Poisson had written

or from some quantity of the same nature. If the views which

the irregular motion. It is this regular velocity which I shall

not be affected by any motion of translation common to the whole

2. It will be necessary now to examine the nature of the

to x, y, z. The linear velocities due to the angular velocities

, du , , (du dv\ , , (du dw\ "|

various ways; perhaps the following is the simplest. The condi-

motion of rotation, a motion of uniform dilatation, and two motions

immediately about the one which started, and this disturbance

It has hitherto been supposed that the molecules of a fluid are

their positions of relative equilibrium indefinitely diminished, but

It may also be useful to know the components, parallel to

acting in the negative direction. Hence we have by D'Alembert's

in which equations we must put for Bu/Bt its value

Let us now consider in what cases it is allowable to suppose

retardation depends, partly on the friction of the water against

of the pressure of the fluid about M on the solid or fluid with

values given by (8), and observing that in this case 8 = 0, we

in which equations I, m, n will have to be replaced by dL/dx,

If we choose to take account of capillary attraction, we have

are the conditions to be satisfied for points at the free surface.

The equations (14) admit of being differently expressed, in a

The relative velocity parallel to z of a point (x, y', 0) in the

friction varies as the first power of the velocity, and consequently

Suppose now the solid to be in motion, and let u, v, w be the

of a pipe is polished we may suppose that little irregularities

There remains to be considered the case of two fluids having a

7. The most interesting questions connected with this subject

Let AAp be the increment of pressure due to a very small incre-

Substituting in the above equation, we see that # (t) and y (t)

the integral of which is

G and G' being arbitrary constants. Taking the same expression

u = Gie~<* cos ^(bt-xj+cA (21).

tion of sound is sensibly the same whatever be its pitch. Hence

The integral of (22) is

If a is the radius of the inner, and b that of the outer cylinder,

These cases of motion were considered by Newton (Principia,

The case of motion considered in this article may perhaps

If the rotations of the cylinders are in opposite directions,

Let the axis of z be parallel to the generating lines of the

The motion being uniform, we shall have u = 0, v = 0, w =f(oc, y),

Objections to Lagrange s proof of the theorem that if udx+vdy+wdz

infinitely in every direction on the positive side of the axis of x,

co-ordinates of the particles. The three transformed equations

where 8 is a function of the differential coefficients of as, y and z

12. It is not from seeing the smallest flaw in M. Cauchy's

where P i ; Q1...Vn may be functions of t, wv..&>„, and if when 6^= 0,

value of t from 0 to T, and if (o1...an are each zero when t = 0,

DEMONSTRATION. Let T be a finite value of t, then by hypo-

vanishing in this case also when t = 0. But if ro1 + w2... + mn = £1,

the independent variables a and t, satisfying the differential

13. Supposing p to be a function of p, 1//' (p), the ordinary

14. The circumstance of udx + vdy + wdz being an exact

noticed, as it is well to view a subject of this nature in different

We have also, by the principle of conservation of areas,

Application of a method analogous to that of Sect. I. to the

da dp „ (d\ da d*a\ }